


Doppelganger

by Nicxan



Category: Metroid Series
Genre: Dysphoria, Flashbacks, Gen, Nightmares, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicxan/pseuds/Nicxan
Summary: She wasn't corrupted by Phazon. It was just a bad dream. The woman in the mirror was her -- had to be.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Doppelganger

**Author's Note:**

> hi someone please give Samus some therapy she needs it really bad

Ever since Samus eradicated the Phazon, she hadn’t been able to sleep.  
  
It was hard to. Sometimes, she woke up in a cold sweat after having nightmares of being completely corrupted by Phazon.  
  
This was one of those nights.  
  
Samus tossed and turned in her sleep. Perhaps she even whimpered, but even if she knew, she’d never admit that -- not even to herself. But the dream got to the same point as it always did. It only got more distressing each and every time.  
  
 _Her veins were blue and bulging. Her eyes shone turquoise, and her suit had a sickly black hue. She stormed Federation HQ under control of Dark Samus, firing away mindlessly at her allies and friends, desecrating sacred sites on Zebes, hurting the ones that mattered most --_ _  
__  
__And cackling with Dark Samus all the while._  
  
‘ _No!_ ’ Samus shot out of bed in a cold sweat, panting and shaking. The cool night air greeted her with its gentle breeze, and the crickets outside meant that she was home. If she grabbed the sheets, she could ground herself. She could shut her eyes and focus on the sounds of nature.  
  
Tonight, none of that helped.  
  
She had to see herself as she was. She had to have proof that she was still herself. Samus threw off the sheets and rushed to the bathroom in a near frenzy. A sharp pain shot through her thigh as she rushed through the house -- probably smacked into furniture. It didn’t matter right now.  
  
The light that flooded the bathroom almost blinded her, but she didn’t even care. All she had to do was look in the mirror, see that she was herself, and then she could go back to bed.  
  
Right?  
  
The woman staring back at her ... _looked_ right. Long blonde hair that went to her waist. Skin that had a healthy glow with no tinges of blue. Piercing blue eyes that shone with determination -- and right now, fear.  
  
So why did it feel _wrong_?  
  
Samus stared back at herself in distressed confusion. She ran the water, made it as cold as possible, and splashed her face with it a few times before looking back up. Now the woman’s face just looked wet. Still wrong.  
  
Again.  
  
Again.  
  
One more time.  
  
“I’m not her,” Samus muttered in a desperate attempt to ground herself. “I’m not Dark Samus. She’s gone. I’m me, and I’m fine.”  
  
More water. Samus ignored how it splashed onto the counter. That was just the water, not tears. She could clean it up later, maybe in the morning.  
  
She was still herself.  
  
She was still Samus Aran, the protector of the galaxy. Not a monster.  
  
She could still function.  
  
She _had_ to.


End file.
